CONNECTION

Modern man talks of a battle with Nature, forgetting that, if we won the battle, he would find himself on the losing side".

                                                           E. F. SCHUMACHER


Can we distill our present global predicament into a contest between the "connected" and the "unconnected"?
What made me ponder on this was watching the excellent documentary film on Rosia Montana http://www.rosiamontana-thefilm.com/ which highlights the contrasting values on one side, of the locals who don't want to move away from their homes and on the other side, of the "investors" who see no problem with making money from mining the earth of its riches. This village in Romania is being torn apart by the conflict between those living a very modest life in harmony with their natural environment, and those wanting to extract the buried gold using a process invoving opencast mining and cyanide extraction.
To my mind, this scenario represents, on a small scale what is being played out across the planet, with globalisation and the McDonaldisation of cultures and societies. Often, the conflicting parties are defined as  the clever, progressives versus the uneducated, unsophisticated traditionalists. And, in this film, the contrast is   stark- the peasants with a few sheep and cows, living a subsistence life with few luxuries are up against the rich and powerful Canadian-funded corporation.
But there is a common thread to be detected here- people who have found connection with their environment cannot contemplate damaging their beloved earth any more than they could hurt their own children. The disconnected, having lost that earth-ing have no such qualms and any rape, mutilation or other destrcution of the planet can be justified in the name of profit or perhaps what they perceive as "progress". If we extend this idea to its logical conclusion of course, we shouldn't be mining coal or other precious materials which have delivered us a wealth of material benefits, albeit at a cost.
However, in this film, Rosia Montana, one resident of the village tells us that their forebears believed that the earth had spirits who could guide them to its riches under the surface but that misfortune would befall them if they were greedy or otherwise exceeded their needs. And in this village, gold mining had a history going back 2000 years to pre-Roman times. One might conclude therefore that minerals such as gold have a legitimate purpose for humans, but certain guidelines should limit our use of them or the price we will pay for our greed will ultimately exceed any benefit we derived from it.
Such a principle would seem to have guided many "primitive" cultures in the past, whether it refered to the mining of gold or the killing of animals for food, and as long as we are "connected" , those groundrules will provide us with the boundaries beyond which we should not venture.

Mutual independence

Self-sufficiency is a noble aim but in itself it will not build community. It is an obvious reaction to the threat of Climate Change, loss of food security, dis-empowerment etc and many of us are looking to become more self-sufficient. But, globally we are facing a process of making people, communities and whole nations, dependent on outside forces. This process is called globalisation. Its about destroying self-sufficiency and independence. Globalisation is about bringing everyone within the ambit of the multinational corporation. Organisations such as Monsanto illustrate very clearly the type of methods employed. Sell people a lie, with promises of greater yields and financial security. Sell them seeds which produce crops requiring costly pesticides and fertilisers and prevent the grower from saving their own seeds. Threaten them with legal action if they attempt to break their contract- just the threat is enough, as many even in America have learnt to their cost- because Monsanto has such huge financial assets that their legal teams of solicitors will wear you down until all your money is gone. But Monsanto is just the tip of the iceberg- with the help of the World Bank, WTO, IMF and arrangements such as GATT , NAFTA etc are forcing people our of self-sufficiency and self-reliance and into a dependence on foreign imports or just a dependence on a cash economy. Throughout the world, the same pattern is repeated- where people previously were able to grow their own food, make their own clothes, build their own homes, they first are made dependent on cash which then forces them to work within the clutches of the global economy. Once in the global economy, transnational corporations, usually based in the West, although increasingly, now in China, can sell them inferior versions of what they previously created, grew or made for themselves. What is happening in Greece is but a western version of the same story, with an economically weaker nation being subjected to the stronger forces of richer nations mediated by the link to the Euro.
There is a common pattern in modern capitalism with imperialism and colonialism. First undermine or destroy the country's culture, then make the people dependent on trade. This latter stage will always ensure that the richer state will grow at the expense of the poorer one. Modern capitalism, far from resulting in a trickle-down of wealth, allows wealth to seep inextricably  upwards, with wealth concentrating ever more in the hands of the super- and hyper-rich.
In the face of these forces, which we are all subjected to, even us in the "developed" North, we need to develop an independence, breaking these ties of dependencies.This may involve generating our own local energy, growing our own food, making our own clothes- in fact anything that makes us less "connected" to the money economy. The rise of schemes such as LETS, credit unions and the idea of a gift economy all work to the same end-  building our independence and self-sufficiency. But, to describe this,  I prefer the term "mutual independence" as it reflects the need for each of us to become mature, independent individuals which is a prerequisite to building a stable and self-sufficient community.

Further reading:  The Case Against the Global Economy- Edited by Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith

Schooling the world

Humans are, to greater or lesser extents all creatures of habit. It saves energy to just repeat the exercise we last carried out, rather than re-evaluating the possibilities each time. But the danger of course is that we slip into habits which may later be seen to be destructive or otherwise inappropriate. And, on a cultural or societal level,  whole lives may fail to question certain principles or beliefs.
Money and its purpose is certainly one such example. I would imagine very few of us ask ourselves the basic question- "what is the purpose of money"? And its a fairly important question in today's world where the majority of us are almost totally dependant on cash for simple survival- it wasn't always so. Isn't it rather strange then that the "purpose of money", where it comes from etc  are rarely if ever taught at school?
Love is another example. The word is used glibly all the time in modern society- "falling in love", "making love", "love child" etc. But its one of those words and concepts which has almost totally lost any meaningful content. We use the word out of habit without really understanding its meaning.
And how about "education" or "schooling"? In the modern Western world it has become virtually synonymous with being civilised or associated with a progressive society. And yet the concept of education and schooling in particular are relatively recent developments in the history of man. Most indigenous societies would not recognise our understanding of what it takes to become "educated" and our practice of incarcerating young children for years to "educate" them would appear positively absurd to them.
As the film "Schooling the world"  http://schoolingtheworld.org/screenings/host/  points out, western imperialism used education as a strategic tool in its taming of conquered lands and peoples. In India, the British aim was to create a population brown on the outside but English on the inside. Similarly, the indigenous North American population was subjected to an education system which effectively extinguished all their cultural roots.
And now, one can find schools the world over using a Western education model, promoting Western principles and ideology, often in stark contrast to the cultural values prevalent in the host nation. Often, these schools were originally established by missionaries having a particular religious agenda, or by well-meaning foreigners who thought their efforts would improve the lot of the host population. Whatever the original motive, many of these schools promote an ideology which stands in stark contrast to the indigenous culture.
Even if our ideological model was perfect, imposing it on another culture cannot be justified. However, Western "culture" is increasingly displaying a raft of serious deficiencies and seems unlikely to survive too much longer and our energies would be better directed in developing a new cultural myth to replace the existing myth of "progress".

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The discovery of new technologies presents us with a challenge. At present, and for the last few centuries at least, virtually all technology has been assumed to constitute "progress" and as such, taken on board. Later, and in hindsight we often find adverse or side effects. We haven't as yet achieved a mechanism to evaluate technologies before they are adopted and become mainstream. The term"Luddites" has commonly been used in a negative context and yet the Luddites' basic premise was correct- that the new looms would destroy their way of life and de-skill (in modern parlance) their comunity.
Today, there is a widespread acceptance of the internet, together with its various offshoots- Facebook, Twitter and forums etc. Critics are often regarded in a similar light to that in which Mr Ludd and his compatriots would have been viewed. I use the internet- its hard not no and still contribute actively within our communities. And yet it concerns me that this new communications revolution, whilst providing impressive new possibilities, envelops each of us in a cyberspace "bubble", effectively isolating each of us. The virtual reality of the net is increasingly replacing conventional relations and inevitably has practical repercussions for everyday community life.

Its a crude analogy I know, but the optmistic reception that the internet received is not dissimilar to the excitement that greeted the first motor car, 200 years or so ago. Then, this amazing machine promised freedom of movement and a general emancipation of the everyday citizen. At first, the car did seem to be delivering on its promises, but today the picture is not quite so rosy.

Somehow, we manage to overlook the fact that every new technology exacts a price from its users, and inevitably, advantages and benefits  become nullified by the hidden costs. How many of us consider the energy costs of using IT? A Harvard academic argues that 2 Google searches results in the production of 14g CO2 and that IT now causes 2 per cent of global emmisions. These emmisions stem from the electricity used by the computer terminal and by the power consumed by the large data centres operated by Google and the like around the world. These are the physical impacts of the technology. The social implications have yet to be fully understood- but they are likely to be substantial.

Ivan Illich used the term "convivial tools" for technologies which chimed with our human needs, without exacting a high ecological or social cost. He considered the bicycle as a prime example of a convivial tool. I doubt if the internet would meet these criteria.

Similarly, Schumaker promoted the benefits of " small"- and again, the 'net would fail the test- it is incurably centralised, and although it can empower communities and individuals in many ways, the balance of net benefit will always rest with those with the greatest financial and political power.
This point has been eloquently addressed by Jerry Mander, amongst others, who wrote the book "Four arguments for the elimination of TV" back in the 70's and has since turned his attention to the role of the internet as well as globalisation and technology in general. His conclusion-" Technological evolution is leading to something new: a worldwide, interlocked, monolithic, technical-political web of unprecedented negative proportions". His solution-   dismantle technological civilisation. Simple as that!

Be naiive

I am certainly not alone in thinking that state education is probably now doing more harm that good to us as a society. When did you last hear a serious discussion regarding the role of education? Hours are spent reviewing and arguing over targets and qualifications but few ever broach the question "what is education for?".
My main objection is that schools view children as empty vessels which have to be filled. If this is the goal then perhaps schools are fit for purpose. However, children as well as adults are not mere sponges for facts- we learn when we are ready to learn. You can present concepts and ideas to a person but it will only make sense if they are ready to understand. We find this in our own lives- a book which we previously couldn't fathom, suddenly makes sense. Campaigners will also tell you that you can hit people with all manner of facts and statistics but only when they are ready, or on the same "wavelength" do they actually take them on-board.
Krishnamurti goes further in saying that knowledge gets in the way of learning- because knowledge represents past experience, and as such has been through the mill of the mind and therefore is not "reality". In other words, to truly learn we need to start with a blank sheet of paper- not one coloured by previous knowledge/experience. In everyday life, the mind is continually judging, comparing etc. To learn we need to suspend the mind's activity in order to accept the reality for what it is- unclouded by our own ideas, preconceptions etc.
One could say we need to be naiive in order to learn. Its an analagous situation to that of instinct and "gut feeling" which rise in response to a given situation. Then, invariably, the mind kicks in and clouds the issue with logic, experience etc.
It may appear a truism but, if education is to mean "learning", the primary task of the teacher must be to enable children to learn. They need to understand how learning occurs, the role of the mind, and what instinct is. Having taught 2 of our children at home over several years, it was quite a revelation to observe how little time a child needs to learn what a school takes years to achieve. This is because, once a child is ready to learn, the teacher almost becomes superfluous, as life and living become the child's teacher. Schools need to be replaced with life- the best teacher there is.

Entropy and spiritual growth

In his book The Road Less Travelled, M. Scott Peck interprets evil as pure "entropy"- the natural tendency in all systems towards a reduction in energy over time. However, most of us are not evil but are still subject to an element of entropy. When we fail to apply effort against this entropic force, what Peck defines as plain "laziness", we commit "sin". In contrast, when we resist  entropy, through love,("the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing our own or another's spititual growth") we grow spiritually. This novel way of representing otherwise rather nebulous phenomena I find rather interesting. Peck is contributing to bridging that increasingly flimsy divide between science and spirituality.
Jung carried off a similar exercise when he compared the relation between the unconscious and the conscious to that of a rhizome and its fledgling sprout, the latter appearing temporarily in the spring, only to die, the rhizome (the unconscious) remaining. "Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome . Its true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome. The part that appears above ground lasts only a single summer. Then it withers away, an ephemeral apparition."
Peck, however goes further and suggests that the unconscious is God. He can then suggest that mental illness occurs when the individual's conscious will deviates from that of his unconscious (God). This makes sense to me, since I understand that one needs to be "tuned in" to one's intuition (our subconscious/unconscious) and not be tempted to follow our inner ego-voice. Many of us, by contrast, take that "gut feeling" as meaningless or primitive- I suggest it is the very opposite. The usual pattern is for us to dismiss that initial "gut feeling" or intuition and allow the conscious mind to weave its logical tentacles in a deathly embrace.
Of course God can also be seen as "truth" or reality and as such our aim should be to live "in truth" or "in reality". Hence the oft repeated injunction to live in the here and now- to be truly present. To achieve this state is a continual battle and whether we see it as a struggle against entropy or a fight with our ego- the result is the same. No surprise then to hear the shaman talk of the "path of the warrior", because a spiritual person has to be a peaceful "warrior"

Coincidence, Homoeopathy and the morphic field

The film "A dangerous method" portrays the develpment of the young Jung and his relationship with Freud in early 20th century Vienna. The most fascinating aspect for me was the response Freud displayed as Jung increasingly delves into the occult, spirituality and related phenomena such as "coincidences". Freud warns Jung that such interests risk damaging the reputation of the fledgling science of psychoanalysis--there is a threshold beyond which public opinion will turn against him.
The film title refers to the concern that Freud's "talking cure" could be damaging to the patient- as doctors of the time considered. Well, science has moved on since that time but still the rank and file science community treats many therapies and theories with deep scepticism. Many doctors today, for instance, would consider homoeopathy "dangerous" even though it has a longer track record than modern medicine and little if any of the side effects of the latter.
I wonder what Jung would have made of Rupert Sheldrake- and his theory of morphic fields?  After all, Jung's notion of a collective unconscious is not a milion miles away from Sheldrake's proposition, if one adopts the maximal interpretation of his theory.  But Sheldrake's concept is perhaps better able to provide a mechanism for explaining "coincidences", or "synchronicity" as Jung termed these, since individuals will experience similar realities when they are focused on similar "frequencies".
At a recent wedding I attended, a passage from Kahlil Gibran's the Prophet was read. The previous night,reading in bed,  I had read exactly the same short passage!  Most of us can can provide similar examples illustrating this phenomenon. Personally I consider that everything is imbued with meaning and thus such synchronous events are worthy of our attention.And "attention" for me is the crucial element here- the more attentive and "being in the now" we are, the more likely we are to understand the deeper meaning behind such synchronous events and the like. I also feel that we should be able to attract such "coincidences" although I can't propose how this could come about- apart from positive visualisations.
We also get messages in dreams. In his book "Conscious Dreaming", Robert Moss outlines many examples of such communication and how we can interpret and benefit from it. Again, once we accept that everything is interconnected and has meaning, the world becomes a far larger and more fascinating world-- fact is truly far more exciting and amazing than fiction.
And nowhere is this better illustrated than in the practice of homoeopathy where remedies are chosen by means of tuning in to the person's "wavelength" and matching this with the similar (the similimum" wavelength remedy. The practitioner has to synchronise his observations of the patient with his knowledge of the remedies. That Hahnemnann happened upon this incredible means of healing the sick is miraculous indeed and indicates how important it is for us to be able to suspend disbelief  in order that our minds can be broadened beyond the limits of our past experiences.